Books

Inbound knowledge from books (deep reading!) that is. Not sure yet where this page will lead me, but in this section I am saving the short remarks and links to the books I have read. Maybe articles as well in due time. It is not that I don’t appreciate the LinkedIn/Amazon app  (which has a more complete listing of my readings), but nothing beats a backup of your own xml.

A –transcontinental- airplane book*, which I am sure I will read again. A book on how technology makes consumers into collaborators. Arguably, this has been the case for business-to-business technology users for a while (see von Hippel on User Innovation), but I also see a change in pace and opportunity.

Shirky does not see social production as a panacea, just as an alternative, with limits. Good to see referrals to authors, like Nicholas Carr, Joachim Benkler, Kevin Kelly, Andrew Keen. I am reading in the right circle here.

Key question: how much will we be able to take advantage of the cognitive surplus to produce real civic value? At the end of the book, Shirky shares his observations about how to successfully harness cognitive surplus. I took many notes and will make a mindmap of the book as well.

Read this book as well when you are curious about the Invisible University, the paradox of revolution and theory-induced blindness. Not your average digital cheerleading book (paraphrasing a Bloomberg Businessweek review). Better then Here Comes Everybody. *meaning you can read it on one trip.

 

An interesting perspective on Helena. Helena is one of the few female figures from the ancient world, who is still well known today. Originally from Sparta, she is better known as Helena from Troy. Although beauty contest were commonly organized in the Ancient world, no winner ever was as beautiful as the most famous Spartan of all times. And beauty was not in the eye of the beholder, as to ancient thinkers. This book tells the story of how Helena (could have) lived, but also how societies have seen her through the ages.

In case you forgot: Helena was the main reason 1000s of (pre)Greeks and ships went to war with Troy. Honor and glory also had something to do with it. The 10 year long siege got them Helena back to Sparta.

Hughes paints a picture of a strong Helena, who stood her ground in the Bronze age and many centuries after that. She used many sources for the book and added her own research at the excavation sites and museums. Interesting detail: in the middle Ages, Helena’s “affair” with Paris was seen at act against God, whereas the Greek and Romans saw it as an act by a God (Aphrodite).

This work has many explanatory links to the Ilias, which really is mostly about the various conflicts between (pre)Greek tribes. Homer hardly mentioned Helena, maybe because her existence was common knowledge. Helene’s death marked also the end of the Heroic age. Next time at the Forum Romanum I ought to pay homage to La Belle Helene’, who’s sin maybe only was to fall in love with the wrong man (great remark by Hughes).

A crusade of words, truly telegraphic and schizophrenic, yet with an incredible flow. A constructed reality which reminded me of Hemmingway and Kafka, probably offending all three authors (or at least one). A true work of art. And a great vacation read (should check on The Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay).

 

 

The original notes by Lewis and Clark about their expedition. It was Thomas Jefferson himself who had a dream to send a party into the still unmapped America. Clark was the expedition’s chief topographer. At times not much more than the story of a hunting party, which goes about names places and streams and describes the landscape on the way. Constantly looking for food (hunting most of the times) and on the lookout for Indians. But it does make one feel as if one is there, at those places, at that time, with that company of men.

The purpose of the expedition, apart from making maps and general geographic notes, was to establish friendly relations with the Indians. Lewis and Clark smoked a great many pipes and handed over many flags.  Somehow a sour spot in the history of the US, but it seems any great nation is in need of those. How to deal with those spots today is way more important.

Will get back to this book. I made many hyperlinks in the 400-page book. Reminded me a bit of the Humboldt’s journal and , of course, Darwin.

A few years ago (…) I became interested in international (transnational) management. While living in Switzerland, I was working in Spain and just had to understand the true meaning of mañana. Trompenaars and Hofstede pointed me in the right direction for some understanding.

Our behavior is deeply rooted in our culture. This book shares some light on what culture is and what that means to (global) organisations. Culture is our collective system of meaning. It determines what we find interesting, how we behave and what we find worthwhile. The essence of culture is hard to grasp. Culture is like gravity. You don’t smell it nor see it, but just jump up one meter (or yard…).

A book written with the objective to demonstrate there is no best way of managing and organizing. It urges you to recognize cultural differences (and how they possible impact the way we work together) and at least understand your own culture. Trompenaars writes in a easy to understand style. A bit of theory, mixed with practical examples. E.g. practical tips when doing business e.g. in a universalistic culture (when you are coming from a particularistic culture). A summery per chapter and a grand summery complete this work. Sometimes the examples are practical indeed (when invited to someone’s home, do you feel free to take drinks out of their fridge?). Not in Holland, btw.

A helpful framework for understand and reconciling cultural differences. More information at http://www.7d-culture.nl I would not mind to take part in one of their training sessions one day.

BTW, mañana’s true meaning – if there is any- is ‘not today’.

This book is all about Understanding Media (McLulan), a book more talked about then read, says Carr. I suspect this is the case for many more books. The medium is the message: whenever a new medium comes along, people get caught in the information it carries. More importantly: in the long run it influences how we think and act.

Carr is rightfully concerned by the impact of the Net. Good question: is culture being democratized or is it being dumbed down? And have we arrived at a moment of transition between two different modes of thinking? Carr has done some deep thinking (and research) himself and wrote this book (and partly rewired his brain). Why: The Net keeps us from thinking deeply or creatively. The web places more pressure on our working memory, and hence obstructs the consolidation of long term memories. It is a technology of forgetfulness.

The process of consolidation of short-term to long-term memories is delicate. When the load exceeds our minds ability to store and process the information, our ability to learn suffers and our understanding remains shallow. True enlightment comes from contemplation and retrospection. But currently our brain, plastic as it is, is adapting to the new situation.

I really liked the references to maps and spatial thinking. Only quoting the cartographic historian Arthur Robinson: “The combination of the reduction of reality and the construct of an analogical space is an attainment in abstract thinking of a very high order indeed, for it enables one to discover structures that would remain known if not mapped”.  And writes Carr (like most sentences in this note): We also now know that the changes in the brain spurred by map use could be deployed for other purposes, which helps explain how abstract thinking in general could be promoted by the cartographers’ craft.

Read this book as well if you want to understand how Google, which may yet turn out to be a flash in the pan, is really in the business of distraction; why Augustine was surprised to see a person read in silence and read the truly exquisite “the house of quiet and the world was calm”.

And some great quotes:

• Tasks that demand wisdom should not be delegated to computers (Weizenbaum).
• Human beings are ashamed to have been born instead of made (G. Anders).
• Whenever we turn on a computer we are plunged into an ecosystem of distractiveness (Cory Doctorow).

I would also would hate to see us all get lost into that scripted world; scripted by others that is. Just to be sure: only reading these remarks can be shallow as well. It serves only as a note-to-myself and as an invitation to some deep thinking. By reading The Shallows.

Gill writes well in this lessons-in-humbleness and life-is-what-happens-to-you book. Gill tells his life story, in which he first was at the top the JWT add agency and ‘ended-up’ as a barrista at Starbucks. The real shock was when he realized that a great part of his previous and privileged life was full of meaningless activities.

That add agency, JWT, seems to really exist, but no mentioning of this book or Michael Gates Gill on their website. A missed opportunity.  Gill paints a picture of the world of ad agencies, where everyone is young, and young only. When he worked there, he saw more of his customers then he did see his children when they were young. Generally not a good idea.

JWT seems a horrendous place. It was policy to complement colleagues and co-workers as little as possible. It could get them into difficulties in court.

When the new owner at JWT came in, he cared more increasing profit for shareholders then about delivering quality work for customers. From an asset to the company, Gill quickly became an cost centre and was fired. It was a (personal) life changer for him. Years later, he was offered a job at Starbucks, and took it.

Gill made a successful shift from being served, to serving others. Work as dignity, as his new mantra. It was also a step into diversity for Gill, who used to hire people who were just like him, from the same background. At JWT, diversity was only used when the government was listening in. At Starbucks, he was living it. Gill first thought that a job at Starbucks would be below his level of ambition, but soon found out a maybe was too high for him (mentally, emotionally and physically).

From a company culture where fear was used as a strong motivator (JWT) to a culture where co-workers (partners) as asked to do something, not told. Where respect and dignity are daily keywords, a new experience to Gill. He was used to experiencing the paradox of a mission statement and daily corporate life.

Gill’s father was a writer at the New Yorker. Gill himself met TS Eliot, Jacky Kennedy, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Sinatra; so many great names, it is almost sounds too good to be true. And Hemmingway, who pointed out writers are not journalists (…). And told him the true story about his scar. I am sure Gill’s father would have been proud of this book. It reads well and has a good flow.

This books describes Starbucks as a theater, with ‘the good life’ on stage. Where employees are energized at an internal meeting as if at a rock concert (this does somehow sound familiar…). Where How are you?, is not a greeting, but a genuine interest in a customer. This book is very much an homage to Starbucks and its culture. I am ok with that (Grande Latte, low on the foam please). Very much appreciate (good) barrista.

Read this book in the past, but could not find the notes. Mintzberg I have always admired for his clarity  in his articles and books on strategy. This book is a mustread for all who have an MBA, but the over 400 pages might be a bit too step for many.

Mintzberg comments on MBA’s are well known, the source can be found here: http://www.mintzberg.org/ When I was once fortunate to attend a lecture by Porter, I recall observing -young- business students trying to grasp when the man was really lecturing about. In my opinion they failed the context. I did my MBA (in Information Systems) within a few years after my BA. I was really ‘just an eye-opener” into other fields of knowledge. And it got me really reading books.

In particular I was looking for chapter 11  in this one (on thinking patterns for learning & shaping managers) and found it (…). I will get back to this book in due time. It deserves deep reading.

Seth’s books are hard to walk past, the packaging is just too inviting. And this one even came with a bookmark. I read this book in a day, this is where a long train commute comes in handy.

New Marketing seeks to interact to the max, by telling stories and sending messages only with permission of the receiver. Meatball sundae challenges you to compare old and new marketing in relations to 14 trends. Some of these trends: the extreme short attention span, the Long Tail (and the Short Head), the triumph of great ideas. The book then challenges you (your organization) to get going and change (and become that organization which can profit most from New Marketing).

Read this if you want to know more about Josiah Wedgwood (Darwin’s grandfather btw), a great marketeer, advertising on toilets and the 1% rule. And why blogs matter (great to get a confirmation from the master himself).

A Godin truism: some organizations seems to watch the world change, in disbelieve. And others, adapt and act! Oddity for me: “Book readers and newspaper readers”. I hardly ever read newspapers, I read books. Pls read the book as well if you want to figure out the title. Don’t worry, meatballs are still fine, they just won’t get you any growth.

Utopia. I have not yet been there, but have read this book before. It deserved rereading. Thomas Moore wrote this satire in incredible times (1515/1516): the discovery of America was hot of the press and Luther was about to initiate protestant reformation.

Moore was not yet agreeing with himself (…) whether to publish the work. The story of Utopia (the perfect society if you will) is actually told by a traveler. He is the one who makes to the real daring statements, at the time. Most of these today have become reality. Some examples are: education for all children and in their local language (not Latin), reasonable labor hours (not 12 to 16 hours per day), a pension for the elderly.

Some other interesting statements from this book:

• Heads of state are much more interested in conquering new land, instead of well governing what they already have (like Hadrianus tried to ).
• Why should the state take a life, when only money is stolen? Surely money has a lower value than life itself? (a thief received capital punishment in those days)
• Maybe France is already too big to be decently ruled by one person alone?
• In the bible (then only in Latin) there is much more Christianity to be found then the current morals in the country. Is there a moral to keep that silent?
• Today’s wealthy states are just a conspiracy of the rich, mixing general interests with their own personal interests.
• (Like Darwin) he observes have soldiers and thieves have a lot in common (soldiers are never afraid to steal).

The more innocent statements are e.g. on town planning: how cities should be build and planned (houses in straight lines, along a wide street, with gardens, very utopic at the time). Mind you, no private property in Utopia. If all wealth is measured in money, there is no room for law and prosperity. No wonder socialist thinkers have admired Moore, for his longnow thinking then.

Making these kind of statements, even in a satire, was very dangerous at the times. I suspect it contributed somehow to Moore’s death. I could have read the Project Gutenberg version, but my Latin is rather rusty. I read the work of Marie H van der Zeyde, Athenauem, 2002 (in Dutch).

BTW there is a great map of Utopia as well!

In Search of Excellence was THE book when I was studying for my MBA. There was not much room for discussion about it (I thought) and although it raised many interesting points, it raised even more questions for me (the Halo effect by Phil Rosenzweig did put things more into perspective for me). I have lost my copy of In Search throughout the years. Liberation Mangement, from the same author, I still have.

These Essentials are very good recaps of what you have to know to get into action mode in ‘these times’. They are easy to read and reread in a few weeks time. If have been following Peters through the years and his messages are not new to me. E.g. on leadership: Leaders say “I don’t know”, they are optimistic, they are architects of great design, they honor the rebels in the organization. Leaders are experts in relationship, network maniacs and they love new technology. His statements are difficult to prioritize, but I guess no priority is meant to be.

This small booklet has only four chapters (starting with a –Tom Peters- tirade, then a vision and then e.g. 25 remarks about how managers have to embrace talent – their most important job). Tom Peters is a great –digital- mentor. Get his direct from www.tompeters.com and/or his tweets.

Certainly a book of books, if you are into the history of (natural) science, science in general and/or geology . This “noble science” was also Darwin’s interest, although he does not always receives the credits for the geology-association. This book is Darwin’s account of his travels and discoveries during the Beagle voyage. That voyage was the basis for his later work on the Origin of Species.

The Beagle voyage was a real mapping expedition and Darwin was just a paying passenger, with a special mission. Most of his travels were on terra firma, not on the ocean as one might think. Interesting story for surveyors (1) about San Pedro: drought has caused so much sand in the wind, that the landowners could not recognize the borders of their property anymore (causing confusion among landowners).

Interesting story for surveyors (2) : On the island of San Pedro, a fox was so intrigued by the surveyors, that Darwin could approach him quietly and hit him on the head with his geologist’s hammer. This fox later made it to the exhibition at the Zoological Society. Darwin seems to like to tool for killing animals; it will never look the same to me now.

The books is descriptive to the extreme at times, but poses great and many questions. Darwin clearly was a great observer and explorer at large. One of the key questions -how extinct species are very much related to living species and how species have evolved though time- does not get answered in this log.

Read this book if you want to know about how Darwin caught himself with a bola, el rastro di tigre, a naked man on a naked horse.  But also it you are curious about Renous’ heresy (by predicting that caterpillars can turn into a butterflies) and what the Chileans mean by puna. Darwin lived in the times when Sydney just had 23000 inhabitants (but was growing rapidly!). And as a side remark, he believed everyone on board was quite happy to leave New Zealand (not a pleasant place, apart from Waimate).

For Darwin, after this voyage, the map of the world became a painting full with different and lively images. The very last sentence of the book speaks for itself: (on whether a naturalist should undertake such a voyage) ”…how many truly kind-hearted people there are, with whom he never before had, or ever again will have any further communication, who yet are ready to offer him the most disinterested assistance”.

By the way, Darwin did not get paid for this book, although it was a reprinted by the publisher. Kind of connects it to Lessig’s books….

Many do not understand what copyright or the public domain are about. Let alone what creative commons means. The aim of creative commons is to build a reasonable copyright on top of the extremes that reign today. They go beyond fair use and complements copyright. I fall into the category of those who use CC to express the importance of a balance in the debate.  I wanted to get to the source of this debate and found Lessig’s work (and presentations) very interesting.

This book, Orwellian at times, is about Free cultures (cultures have a great deal open for others to build upon) and I like  it’s style. Not too academic, but yet loads of sources mentioned. A few practical examples, which lead up to an argument to support Lessig’s case to explain how big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity.

A free culture supports and protects creators and innovators. A free culture is not a culture without property, just as a free market is not a market in which everything is free. Although one can see this book as merely a derivative of Stallman’s essays, as Lessig puts it, I found this book – about the effect of the Internet beyond the internet itself- very valuable and insightful. Lessig, fighter against the piracy of the public domain, writes (argues) against extreme points of view on copyright and calls for a balance.  A balance between norms, law, market and architecture (put in order by me).

Just a few great wordings:

• Policy makers should not make policy on the basis of technology in transaction. They should make policy on the basis where technology is going.
• Overregulation stifles creativity. It smothers innovation. It gives dinosaurs a veto over the future.
• We all forget history. The key is whether we have a way to go back and rediscover what we forget.

Read about RCA’s AM empire, the Causby’s (with a nice land/air ownership example), Doujinshi  and Eastman, Grimm and Disney, something relatively new and something really new, the statute of Anne and the way back machine.

American copyright started with a very narrow scope: it covered maps, charts and books. Now it covers nearly any creative (tangible) work. But i was stunned how much “Dark content” (Kevin Kelly attrib). is around, most of which has no commercial value (but the owner is not known; we are talking about 95% of the content here).  Not sure how this American (born a pirate nation) copyright compares to the EU of Dutch position.  But I do feel more ready to understand some of the recent debate by the EU on copyright and the internet.

Hard to just walk by a book, with this title. An account of two subjects of interest of mine: science and WWII. It is the story of the scientists pushed out of Germany in the Nazi era. If you did not know: Jew scientists (and students) were denied access to the universities by Hitler in April 1933, only 10 weeks after he came to power. It caused waves of scientific wanderers.

The British scientific community responded in a “England at its best” manner. First with the Academic Assistance Council, later on named The Society for the Protection of Science and Learning. From its title hard to be against that. The book is about the refugees, their internment (in case they support their greatest enemy) and those that stayed behind. 20 of these refugees later on received a Nobel price.

Some of the famous names and not so famous ones are in this book. Obviously one is them is Einstein, whose questions were sometimes closer to philosophy then physics;  he was already famous before he received the Nobel prize in 1921. Einstein was popular in Oxford, because of his eccentricity. Eccentricity appeared the be the norm in Oxford (if those days) – “if eccentricity can ever be a norm”).

I found the individual stories of many of these scientists fascinating:  Sir Francis Simon, who received the Iron Cross in the First WW and was asked to turn in his passport in the second. Otto Frisch, who was apparently a gifted musician as well “just a shame he has become a physicist”. Or how Nature turned down Krebs’ proposal for an article on his discovery, for which he later received the Nobel price. And an interesting comment (acclaimed to Chain) : the possibility that penicillin would have any practical use for clinical medicine had not occurred to use when we started our work. Even more interesting: Chain wanted to patent penicillin, but there was a debate whether it was ethical to patent a lifesaving medicine.

Pointing to the great Dane Bohr, Delbrueck said about his way of working: “The most important principle is openness. You have to tell what you are doing and thinking, without wondering who will get the honour”. * From Bernand Katz: “scientist are professional amateurs, meaning people who love their work and try to understand nature.”. Greatest quote is from Peter Debye: ‘Our science is essentially an art which could not live without the occasional flash of genius in the mind of some sensitive man, who, alive to the smallest of indications, knows the truth before he has the proof’.  Szilard, who thought up the atom bomb: “There is no place so good to think as the bath tub. “.

What struck me most is the positive account of that dark age period by some of the scientist. In the end, something good came out of it, for them. As if we were young again, Richard Courant’s wife said. Will the change of culture have contributed to their success?

* I read the book in Dutch, hence any faulty English is mine, including the quotes. Google books could not help me either with some pages in English.  Note to my myself: one scientist mentioned the great difference in openness in the English vs the German laborites, but I lost the page mark.

It is never too late to read about the future of ideas, even it is -a book from the past-. While reading the book I made many notes to follow up on, so this is just a first write up.

The creative process requires protection. Rules can form unnecessary barriers to innovate and the freedom to innovate should be treasured by society. Control is necessary, but not always justified. Sometimes no control will get you better returns. Lessig brings the internet as a prime example of that. What if you lose more from hiding that you can possibly gain by (freely or selectively) revealing?

I very much agree that free resources are crucial to innovation and creativity. But value creation is not directly related to value capture. Lessig states that not all resources must be organized as a commons because some are. Keeping resources in the commons ensures no single actor can take advantage of the value the community has created. Individuals and organizations draw value from the commons, which they then consume privately. There is a benefit to keeping resources in the commons and it is the boundaries of the commons that are of interest to me. Comforting quote: the open and the closed always coexist and depend upon each other in this coexistence. The key is to balance the benefits of free against control, so that the benefits of each can be achieved.

Interesting to read how over time the openness of commercial code has changed. And who would have thought I have been an anonymous Stallman fan for ages (for his Emacs editor!). Liked the “if you are free from geekhood”, “the soul of the internet” (Linux, Apache), “ah-ha technology: you don’t quite get its significance until you use it (about napster).”

I do wonder if market leaders really are blind to new forms of creativity. Or are they just consciously not acting? Arguably, it takes (business) courage to innovate against your core. Where ever did this ‘dinosaur firm’ came from? I do recall “elephants can’t dance”, but it turned out they can after all. And are dinosaur firms a bad thing? After all, dinosaurs survived millions of years, were amazingly adaptable and that comet was unavoidable anyway. Didn’t even some dinosaurs survive until today?

Interesting quote: “the government should continue to ensure that no major player in the Internet space is able to architect the internet space to empower its own strategic behavior.” Wonder which company that would be today.

I do see a relation to Open Innovation in many parts of the book, but have not focused on that this time. Reading this book is part of a greater endeavor. Getting ready for the next (Free culture)

 For me the book of books on being connected. If you ever thought social media technologies brought out the human in us, you’re wrong. And if you still think social media technologies are a fad and will pass over swiftly, read this book. It goes way beyond ‘how to use LinkedIn and become a professional networkers’ or similar.

Much of our behavior is pre-codified, we cannot help but act in a certain way. And our brain seems to be build for social networks: Home dictuus, the networked man. We have a strong tendency to connect with other (real) people and there are a few things technology does not change (…).

Through networks, we are heavy influenced by how others decide and we would decide differently, if we can decide independently from others. That is why the wisdom of the crowd can turn to foolishness as well. As mankind developed, so did the size and complexity of social networks. We are slowly putting our lives online and become hyperconnected. As for now, I enjoy living the connected life.

A really great book, which I will return to the library, but will buy again when I run into it at the bookstore. BTW, a lot of content can be found at http://connectedthebook.com/ .

 From an economic perspective, that is. Economist search for the hidden logic behind behavior, on the basis of –or at least influenced by- countless invisible rational decisions. They hope that their way of simplifying the world will provide more insight then destruction. And Harford claims that economist do ask the right questions.

Of special interest to me was the chapter on why the world is not flat. Knowledge does cluster and cluster increases the change to run into new ideas. I was also intrigued about externalities, spill-over and fair payments for knowledge spillover. I am aware this opposes open innovation and this need to look into that.

If you want to know more about the endowment effect, Giffen goods, the incapitation effect , theory of games (and the curse of the winner), law of unique price, the age of merchants, politics of the glorious revolution and .. speeddating (and why economists think it is a great thing): do read this book, for anyone interested in economy (who would cannot be interested in economy…) april 2011.

 I really got into flow reading this book… but I deserves a slow read, not a fast one. If you want to know the book in 18:59 minutes, have a look at Ted

Csikszentmihalyi notes that ‘good work’ – work done well and useful for mankind at the same time – is not that easy to find as you might think. His research shows that great leaders hold certain propensities for very valuable. Openness, curiosity and interest, appear to be strong developed propensities among visionary leaders.

My take: develop your internal CEO-like as early as you can (but don’t expect that to happen just out-of-college) and learn and know what happiness is. And above all: having flow at work is a blessing in our times (april 2011)